Fluid-pressure motor for fire-box doors or other reciprocating members.



i A. G. gLvN.

E FLUID PRESSURE MOTOR FOR FIRE BOX DOORS' 0R OTHER REGPRQATING MEMBERS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3. 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEETYI.

A. G. ELVIN.

FLUID PRESSURE MOTOR POR PIRE BOX DOORS 0R OTHER RBGIPROGATING MEMBERS.

` APPLIUATION FILED JULY 3, 19114 1,030,064.,

Patented June 18, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Hela. 6.-

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h lllLRT (2*. EL'VN', 01 SOMERVILLE, NEW JERSEY.

'lilLr'iltlCl-Pli'tlltll MTR 'FERTE-BOX DORS 0R OTHER RECIPROCATINGMEMBERS.

insonne.

Specication of Letters Patent.

.Patented tiene it, 3HE-Jim.

application filed July 3,191.1. Serial No. 635,701.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that Si, ALBERT G. ELvIN, of Somerville, in the county ofSomerset and State of New Jersey, have invented Aa certain new and'useiul improvement in Fluid- Pressure Motors for Fire-Box Doors or other`Reciprocating Members, of which improvement the following is aspeciication.

The object or my invention is to provide means whereby fire-bon doors orother reciprocating members may be actuatedg by iluid pressure, so as toeiiec't both their opening and closure, and the cushioning ot theirmovements in either direction, with the capacity of ready disconnectionof the pneumatic operating mechanism Whenever itmay become necessary 'ordesirable to manually operate the reciprocating members. ill`heimprovement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth. '-l i ln theaccompanylng drawings: Figure l is a front view oit a rebox dooroperating appliance illustrating an application of my invention, withthe` operating cylinder thereof in longitudinal central section; Fig. 2,a side view, in elevation, of the removable door or the gear casing;Fig. 3, a view,

partly in plan and partly in horizontal centralsection, ofthe operatingcylinder; l? ig. 4, a plan View, on an enlarged scale, of the left handportion oit the operating cylinder; Fig. -5, a vertical transversesection through the operating cylinder and valves, on the line a a ofFig. 4; Fig. 6, a similar section through the inclosure of the'operatingvalve and exhaustregulating valve, on the line ZJ b of Fig. 4; Fig- 7, asimilar section through the upper portion of the operating cylinder, onthe line c c of Fig. 4, and F ig. 8, a similar section through the gearcase, on the line d Z of Fig. 3.

illy invention is herein. exemplified in connection with a iire`doorappliance comprehendinff tWo reciprocating members, 9,9, performing thefunction of lire box door leaves or sections, which are fitted to slidehorizontally toward and from each other in guides, 3, on a door frame,and to cover and uncover, as the case may be, a firing opening in alire-box or furnace to which the door frame is connected. The doorsection Yreciprocating members are moved from and toward each other, toopen and close, respectively, the tiring openingyby means of levers, 12,12, pivoted by pins or bolts, i3, to la gear casing hereinafterdescribed, the lovver and longer arms ot said levers being coupled tothedoor sections. lntermcshing segment gears, l?, 17a, are formed on thelevers, concentric with their pivots, 13, and by the oscillation oitsaid segment gears about their axes, the door sections will be movedfrom or toward each other, as the case may be. A hand lever, 18, ispivoted to the bottom guides oit the door frame, and is provided with alongitudinal slot, 18a, engaging a pin, 18h, fixed to the door section,9, for the purpose of operating the door sections manually, whendesired.

In the practice of my invention, as applied in connection with a doormechanism of the type above described, a-fluid pressure cylinder, 25, isbolted to the top of the door frame, and is closed at one of its ends,in this case the left hand end, by a head, 'G. The cylinder, 25 isformed integral With, or xed to, an open bottomed gear casing, Q5, into-which the segment gears, 17, 1T, project, 4and through which it isconnected to the door frame. The end of the cylinder opposite that towhich the-head, 2G, is secured, is open to the gear casing.

A piston, 28, is fitted in the cylinder, 25, and is formed integralWith, or fixed to, a piston rod, 28a, 'which is niadc of such diameteras to cause thearea of thc piston effective for pressure ton-besubstantially less on the piston rod side than on the opposite side, theformer being, say, one halt the latter, thus constituting the piston adifferenti-.il one. 'lhe bore ofI the cylinder, 25, at, and for somedistance' `from, its open end, is in correspondence with the diameter ofthe piston rod, and the latter. is, in this in,

stance, shown` as formed in two sections, which are connected by a bolt,28h. The piston is fitted with packing rings, 29, andthe piston rod withpackingrings, 29a.v The.

ond of the piston rod which projects through the open end ot thecylinder, is coupled, by

a pin, 19, to an arm, 19, on the segment gear, 17, the pin passingthrough'a longitudinal slot in the arm, so as` to admit of the vibrationof the latter about the axis of the segment gear. An extcnsion,n28d, isformed on the outer end of the piston rod to prevent the pin Jfromrolling down into the gear casing when it is detached from the arm andtemporarily stowed at the side of the extension. In order to prevent thepin, 19a, from being lost, it is preferably, as shown, coupled to thegear casingl 9,5, by

a chain, 19", the slack of which depends in al pocket in the casing.Movement to the right or to the left, as desired, is imparted to thepiston by iluid pressure, as hereinafter described, and it will be seenthat such movement will, through the segment gears and theirconnections, move the door sections apart, or bring them together, thecase may be.

'l'he supply and exhaust of motive fluid' to and from the opposite sidesot' the piston, 28, to effect the opening and closing movements ot thedoor sections, are eilectcd by the following means'. A pressure chamber,34, which is closed, at its top, by a removable plug, 341, is formed onone side of the op erating cylindeiy, saidchamber communieating, at itsbottom, with a cylindrical bore which extends through the wall of thecylinder andv has a valve seat at its top for the reception ont a dooropeningsupply. and

exhaust vval ve, 33, which seats downwardly and is fixed upon acylindrical stem, 35, titting truly in the cylindrical bore andextending for a short distance below the lower end thereof. Anotherpressure chamber, 54, which is closed at its top by a removable plug,54, is formed in the metal ofthe cylmder, adjacent to the chamber, 34,and sub-.

stantially in the vertical axial plane of the cylinder, said chamberconununicating with the chamber, 34, by a port or passage, 43. A valveseat is formed'in the bottom of the pressure chamber, 54, for thereception of a door vclosing supply valve, 53,'which seats downwardlyand is fixed upon a' cylindrical" stem, 55, fitting truly in 'acylindrical bore extendingr from the lpressure chamber, 54,

i into the bore of the cylinder, 25. The stem,

55, is recessed or reduced in diameter immediately below the valve, 53,and a port or passage, 53a, extends through the stem, from the recessedportion, nearly ,to its lower end and is continuously open,'-"ithroughyflatera branches, to the bore of the cylinder around the piston rod,283,and to the space around therecessed portion of the stem, 5,5. Thesupply pipe, 31, communicates, through a port or passage 31", with theport, 43, which connects the pressure chambers, 34 and 54, and with alubricating,- cup, 44, from which oil.is supplied to the valvesandto'the cylinder, 25. -A port or passage, 45, leadsjrom the left handend of the cylinder to a lateral branch port, which opens into the boreiniwhich the stem, 35, of the valve, 33,/

is fitted., -The stem,.3,5, is recessed orA ret duced in diameter belowthe valve, and the port, 45a, is continuously open to the .Space in thebore surrounding the recessed portionof the stem. An exhaust port, 48,leads from the, bore to the atmosphere, said exhaust port being solocated that Vwhen the valve,

33, is seated, it will be Iuncovered by the re-l cessed portion ofthestem, and will therefore .be in communication with the ports, 45 and 45.lVhen, however, the valve, 33, is unseated, the port, 48, will be closedby the portion of the sten'i ot full diameter below it. The areaavailable for discharge of fluid through the exhaust port, 48,-mi1y bevaried, as desired, by a regulating valve, 51, formed on the end of anadjusting screw, 52, engaging a thread in theinetal of the cylinder.

A shoe, 28e, is fitted on the upper side of the piston rod, 28a, inposition to. abut against the lower end of the stem, 55, of the valve,53, said shoe being recessed at and adjacent to its endnearer the valvestem and upwardly inclined from its" recessed portion, which is'not incontactwith the valve stem, to its portion' of full thickness. When, inthetraverse of the piston rod to the right, the inclined portion of theshoe strikes the valve stem, it thereby u nseats the valve, 53, andholds it unseated during the remainder of its traverse to the right..When, in the traverse of the piston rod to the left, the recessedportion of the shQe cornes below the -valve stem, thelat'te's therebyfreed -from contact with the. shoe,

and the valve, 53, is seated by the luid lp re'streadle lever, 41,pivoted to the door frame and carrying a treadle, 42, which normallystands at a level slightly above that of the lcou-pled, at its lowerend, to a'double armed i deck or firing floor of the rebox. -By downwardpressure of his foot on the treadle, 42,-

the fireman can,through the lever, 41, andVlr rod, 39, unseat the valve,33,'and 'upon the release of such pressure, the valve will be reseatedby the pressure from l'the supply pipe acting upon it in its chamber,34. A

spring, 39, may'be applied to return. the

rod, 39, to normal position.

f A swinging door, 25h, is pivoted tol the side of the gear easing, 25a,adjacent to the extension, 28", of the piston rod, for the purpose ofenabling the pin, 19?, which conl d nect-sthe piston rod withthe gear,17, to be detached from the casing and withdrawn, when, 'for anypurpose, it, may be desired to disconnectl the lfluid mechanism and openmanually in the ordinary manner.

In the operation of the motor, the tireman presses hisfoot upon thetreadle, 42, thereby unseating the valve, 33, which admits fluidpressure from the supply pipe, 31, and communicating valve chamber; 34,past the grooved or reduced portion of the valve stem, 35, and throughvthe ports, 45 and 45, to the left hand end of the operating' cylinder,25, thereby moving-the piston, 28, thereof to the right, and throughtheconpressure operating, and close the doors v on its opposite sides,the fluid pressure ad-y mitted on the right hand side will be sufficientonly to check 'or cushion the stroke of the pistolrto the right, andthus prevent slamming or shock of the doors, Without preventing themfrom being completely opened. T he unreduced portion4 ot' the shoe, 28e,holds the valve, 53, unseated until the completion of the right handstroke. Upon the release of pressure on the treadle, 42, the valve, 33,will be seated by the tluid pressure above it, and when seated, itsstem, 35, will uncover the port` 48, thereby permitting the release offluid from the left hand end of the cylinder to the atmosphere, throughthe ports, 45, and 48. In the left hand stroke of the piston. the shoe,28', holds the valve, 53, unseated, until its reduced portion comesbelow the valve stem,

55, which Will be /near the end of the stroke,

When said valve will be seated by the pressure above it. The expansionof the Huid on the right hand side of the piston, and the momentum of4the door sections, will carry the piston to the end of its left handstroke, when the door sections Awill be completely closed. Theregulating'valve, 5l, is adjusted so as to suiliciently cushion theexhaust from the left hand end of the cylinde'r to prevent the slammingof the door sections in closing.

If, by reason of failure of fluid pressure,

l derangement of moving parts, or for any other reason, it becomesnecessary, or is desired, to discontinue the operation of the fluidpressure mechan1sm, the door, 25h, is

f opened, and the pin, 19, withdrawn and temporarily deposited on ahorizontal portion of the gear easing below the-door, therebydisconnecting the piston rod from the gear. 17, and permitting the doorsections to be manually operated by the lever, 18, the pin beingprevented from heilig 'lost by its chain connection' to the casing.

The 'appliance is readily applicable, in connection with ireboxes of anyof the ordinary constructions, and the Working parts involved arecomparatively few in number and of such character that they can besubstantially made and are protected from liability to breakage and fromdamage by the access. of dirt. The operation 0f the door sections isquick, simple, and easy, and the automatic closure of the door sectionseffects the substantial advantages of compelling single shovel firing,the advantage of which practice, in economizing fuel, perfectingcombustion, and reducing irebox and flue repairs, has been universallyrecognized in railroad service. The facility of connection anddisconnection of the operating mechanism and the doors is of substantialadvantage in providing for the operation of the latter under anyTcontingencies interfering with the normal working of the former whichmay be presented in-practice. Another important advantage is afforded inthe prevention of serious or fatal injury to the engineer' and firemanin the event of a flue bursting or a crown sheet coming down, in whichcase, an ordinary swinging door would be blown open, allowing the steamand hot water to escape into the cab of the engine.

lVith the mechanically operated door above described, if the doorsections should be open and the fireman be tiring, the moment herelieves pressure from the treadle the 'door sections will beautomatically them to be blown down through the grate.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent: j

l. The combination of a fluid pressure operating cylinder, a piston androd Working therein, a gear casing fixed to one end of the cylinder,intermeshing segment gears journaled in said gcarfcasing, a detachablepin coupling1 one of said segment gears to the piston rodlnnd a doorclosing alateral opening inthe gear casing for the insertion and removalof thel coupling pin.

2. The combination of a fluid pressure operating cylinder, a piston androd Working therein, a gear easing fixed to one end of the cylinder,internieshing segment gears journaled in said gear casing, a detachablepin coupling one of said segmentgears to the pist-on rod, alateralreceptacle in the gear casing for the reception of the pin whendetached, and a chain connecting the pin to the gear casing.

ALBERT ELVIN.

Witnesses C. L. VVINEY, F. W. MARTIN.

